BATHE study results
The results are in!
We found that the bath emollients did not really help children’s eczema: most children’s eczema improved a bit over the study year but there was no real difference between the two groups in how much they improved. We also found no difference in the number of problems experienced with bathing, like stinging or redness following the bath, which actually affected a third of children in both groups. The paper is published in the BMJ, please click and a video summary is . The full HTA report can be found .
Of course, although we found that pouring bath emollients into the bath water doesn’t help, it is still really important to use leave-on emollient moisturisers and to use emollient products where these help you to avoid soap.
We are so grateful to all the families and practices who helped us to answer this question. We hope that it will help to make sense of what treatments are worth spending time and money on.